Acoustic Calculator

Calculate Your Room Acoustics

The Visa Lighting acoustics calculator provides a quick overview of the acoustics in a room. Simply enter in the room data – including measurements and materials – then select the acoustic light fixture you would like to incorporate.

The acoustics calculator generates the reverberation time (RT60) of your space initially, and the reverberation time and reverberant noise reduction (NR) after adding in acoustic lighting. Each of our acoustic light fixtures offers a unique absorption value (either imperial or metric NRC sabins). Play around with different fixture options and quantities to see what works best to help you reach your goal.

To save your results, send yourself or your colleague an email, or print a copy of the calculations. Also, feel free to reach out to our team directly with any product related questions.

Room Acoustic Definitions and Terms

Absorption Coefficient – How much sound energy a surface absorbs at a specific frequency. For example, if a surface absorbed 25% of the energy and reflected 75% of the energy the sound at 500Hz, it would have an absorption coefficient of 0.25 at 500Hz.

NRC (Noise Reduction Coefficient) – The average of a surface's absorption coefficients at 250Hz, 500Hz, 1000Hz, and 2000Hz which generally covers the range of human speech.

RT60 (Reverberation Time, -60dB) – Within a space, the time it takes for a sound to "die-off" to the point that it is barely audible. This is equivalent to 60dB (decibels) of attenuation.

Equivalent Absorption Area – The area of an equivalent surface made of perfectly sound-absorbing material. For example, a 10' by 10' surface with an NRC=0.50 would have a real area of 100 square feet, but an equivalent absorption area of 50 square feet (also known as imperial sabins).

Reverberant Noise Reduction (NR) – Decrease in the level of background (reverberant) noise in a space after adding acoustically-active objects. For reference, 1dB reduction is barely noticeable, 3dB is noticeable, and 6dB or more is very noticeable.

Acoustics Calculator

In this section, the volume of the room in question will be calculated.

Enter the length, width, and height of the space and select the building material for each surface. If you do not see the building material on our list, enter in the custom value.

Assumptions:

• The room has four walls and is rectangular (or square) in shape.
• All walls have the same floor-to-ceiling height.
• The room ceiling and floor are flat.
• Each room surface (walls, ceiling, and floor) is constructed of a single material with a consistent NRC.
• The room is empty.
• All calculations are based on NRC absorption values.